LEADERSHIP -
The good news: According to a new report from the Weinreb Group, hiring of Chief Sustainability Officers surged in 2020 in the US, and women now account for 54% of CSO positions. The not-so-good news: The field remains overwhelmingly white.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
While the terminology soup of recycled plastic sourcing is daunting, at the end of the day every ton of plastic recycled and put back into a circular economy is part of the solution. The key for brands is to be clear and honest in communications with customers.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
There is an urgent need to move the visual language of sustainability forward, so being able to represent both technological and societal progress is key.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Consider working with a packaging engineer the next time you release a new product or as you take steps to make your brand more sustainable. Customised packaging solutions create less waste, fewer emissions, and more savings to pass on to your customers.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Unilever is eliminating the word “normal” from all of its beauty and personal care brands’ packaging and advertising, championing a new era of beauty that is equitable and inclusive, as well as sustainable.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
In this excerpt from his new book, **Honor Thy Label**, **Dr. Bronner's** **Gero Leson** shares the company's years-long journey to establishing a stable supply chain for fair trade, organic palm oil.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
In many parts of Asia, COVID-19 is relatively under control; and the focus is on recovery. How the region responds, and how much companies push for a sustainable post-pandemic economy could influence the entire world, due to Asia’s place as
the global driver of innovation and change.
LEADERSHIP -
For Sweden and its business leaders, an inclusive society and economy is both a matter of principle, and a source of resiliency and success over the long term. Of course, we’re not all Swedish — so how can others adopt the same mindset?
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Only 38% of companies self-report as being customer-committed; and therein lies the problem: The challenge isn’t *having* a purpose, but *living* that purpose. Here are 4 ways to ensure a customer-centered purpose impacts the very people it was intended to.
WALKING THE TALK -
We believe there is a purpose-profit loop, where conscious companies have better odds of actually creating more impact *and* more profit. Here is why brands need steadfast purpose to not just survive, but thrive, in a society where change is the only constant.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
To be effective, sustainability and purpose work should create positive business change, not positive media stories. They are management tools, not PR initiatives. So, should brands stop communicating until they’ve got something concrete to say?
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Based on research conducted by the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol in 2020, here are three trends we can expect from the apparel industry — as we emerge from COVID-19 and toward a more sustainable future.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Brand commitments are the engine driving recycled plastic’s transition to scale. Making recycled plastic content part of your brand story is hands down the most
important way to move the needle.
NEW METRICS -
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. But standard formulas for calculating risk leave out critical factors — such as vulnerability and submerged risks — that would more holistically and accurately assess risk. A new model addresses this.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
If Oatly had taken Blackstone’s money, put it on a billboard, and made it known to all of its customers that its next mission was to change the world of ‘big bad investment’ from the inside out, it would’ve remained true to its brand story.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Day 2 of the SB Leadership Summit saw a host of intimate discussions on the power of teamwork to drive change toward a better future — as seen in the
relationships between top brands’ CMOs and CSOs, the many brand partners fueling SB’s Brands for Good initiative, and making “what people need” a core brand
focus.
BUSINESS CASE -
This pandemic throws a spotlight on the interdependencies between business, nature and society. It may be tempting right now, when it is hard to see beyond the next few weeks, to dismiss the SDGs as a distraction. But they have been described as a “crowd-sourced purchase order from the future” *precisely
because* they offer a tremendous business opportunity.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
COVID-19 has fragmented the future. Your best-laid plans may lie broken. But it is possible to bring order to a world of multiple, uncertain futures; and lay the groundwork for the reset we need.
WALKING THE TALK -
The rise of the benefit corporation is in direct response to shareholder primacy. Under benefit corporation frameworks governed by state law, corporations that operate according to a “doing well by doing good” ethos may be shielded from a range of acquisition tactics and shareholder suits.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
A conscious organisation accepts that there are limits to profit and that it should not be the priority. This change is about future-proofing your organisation. It’s not an ‘if’ question — it’s ‘when.’